Sisters Izzi (left) and Addi Barnhart, along with their stepfather Dre Spivey, visited the Allen County Dog Control facility on Wednesday with plans to adopt a new family member to join Stark, a white Havanese-Pomeranian mix. A black female picked up by the dog warden earlier this year seemed to be the front-runner.
J Swygart | The Lima News
LIMA — Dre Spivey and his two step-daughters, Izzi and Addi Barnhart, were all smiles on Wednesday.
They had traveled to the Allen County Dog Control facility on Seriff Road with the sole purpose of selecting a new family pet from among the many dogs currently housed there.
Gathered outside the dog warden’s office on a warmer-than-normal December day, the family introduced their current family pet — a Havanese-Pomeranian mixed breed male named Stark — to a potential new household member.
A black female pup picked up as a stray by officials with the county dog warden earlier this year was brought outside to mingle with Stark and was lobbying for a new home and a permanent name.
Izzi held the black puppy while Addi allowed Stark to sniff and further explore the possibilities of a new friend. All was seemingly going well.
Spivey said the thought of becoming a two-dog household was not at all daunting.
“We’ve had two dogs before. Stark is the love of our lives and we thought it would be nice for him to have a companion,” he said. “But we’ve gotta talk to Mom about this first.”
Plenty of choices … unfortunately
The Christmas holiday is traditionally not a strong time for canine adoptions, according to Julie Shellhammer, chief Allen County dog warden. Unfortunately there are more dogs from which to pick this year than she would prefer.
“Last year at this time we had one or two dogs on site; now we have 29,” Shellhammer said. “We took in around 200 more dogs this year than we did the previous year.”
The dog warden said the reasons for the increase are many and varied.
“We had a lot of ‘owner surrenders’ (of dogs) this year. One of the reasons, I think, was that people got dogs when they were working from home due to COVID, then had to give them up when they returned to work.
“Also there seem to be more and more landlords that are not allowing their tenants to have pets,” Shellhammer said.
According to a recent Associated Press story, the number of animals surrendered to the Cleveland Animal Protective League due to housing or financial challenges jumped by 56% this year to 388. That includes people who can’t afford the care, have a conflict with their landlord, are moving or have no home.
Around the country, shelters and advocates are working to reduce intakes and encourage more adoptions.
Shellhammer said all animals adopted from the Allen County facility are spayed/neutered and are given all their shots before leaving.
“We do the best we can to make sure an adoption is a good fit for the family as well as the dogs,” she said.
2024 dog licenses now on sale
The dog warden also reminded current canine owners that 2024 dog licenses are currently on sale and must be purchased by Jan. 31 for owners to be in legal compliance. An additional fee will be charged for those tags starting Feb. 1.
She encouraged owners to obtain their licenses.
“If all dogs had tags we could get them back to their owners quicker” if they happen to wander away and wind up at the shelter, Shellhammer said.
